


When Lightning Strikes Sand

by ImJusstRandom, sarba_owo



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Child Abuse, Cole in not ok, Cole is Sad, Electricity, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Everyone Is Gay, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Jay is an idiot, Jay is not ok, Multi, Nobody is ok, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Self-Harm, Swearing, Tags May Change, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Violence, cole is rich, cole is sugardaddy, cole needs help, geode, jay is poor like poor poor, kai is an asshole, like please save him, so much swearing, zane is wholesome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24479734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImJusstRandom/pseuds/ImJusstRandom, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarba_owo/pseuds/sarba_owo
Summary: High school is a bitchJay x Cole StorySo yeah, read this if you want lol.
Relationships: Cole/Jay Walker, Nya/Skylor (Ninjago)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

Cole stormed through the hallways, shoving past students as he made his way downstairs. School had finally let out and obnoxious teenagers were everywhere, he was usually annoyed by them most days, but now it was worse. It was supposed to be a great day, he was planning on taking his amazing girlfriend out to a fancy dinner he had been saving up for months, but of course it was ruined, why wouldn’t it be!? This restaurant was one of the nicest in their pathetic town, and he wanted to surprise her. She was everything to him.

Earlier today Cole was heading to the bathroom when he saw a familiar head of black hair in some empty classroom. He was going to the bathroom to of course, escape class, but as he was walking through the musty halls of his high school, he had seen someone he hadn’t expected outside of class. He had walked up hesitantly, almost scared to look, but why was he scared? He looked inside to find his girlfriend kissing some redhead. The first emotion that hit him was sadness, but was replaced by anger, then confusion, and now a small anger. Now don’t get him wrong, he supports the lgbtq or whatever, but his girlfriend? Really?He trusted her, she was his everything, they had been together since the beginning of freshman year, almost three years together, and now this? He went up to the window, and knocked, which scared them both, Nya looked in horror at her ‘boyfriend’ as he mouthed, “We’re over.” He could see her running to the door, but he ignored her and picked up his pace.

“Cole wait!” He heard her yell desperately from across the hall, he looked back to see the redhead girl standing behind her. He looked away, scowling, feeling utterly betrayed. He needed to vent anger, it was piling up, he needed to leave,  _ now.  _

He flipped them off and ran down the hallway, refusing to be upset. He stormed up to no specific locker and punched it as hard as he possibly could. The locker was cold against his overheated hands. He let tears stream down his eyes as he hit it once. He let out a breath of air, starting to walk off, before quickly turning around and relentlessly punched the locker over and over again, feeling no remorse, but only the need to hit something, to release his rising anger. With the loud noises he’s caused, a teacher came out of her classroom and quickly snapped at him.

“Cole Brookstone! What in God’s name do you think you’re doing!” The teacher exclaimed loudly. Cole quickly turned around and stared at her for a second, ignoring the blood on his fists from the locker. His knuckles at this point were a bloody mess, which of course there was blood on the locker, and a few good sized dents.

“There was uh, a bug! A huge spider on the locker!” He said, keeping his cool but cringing internally about his excuse. The teacher raised an eyebrow before storming into her classroom, grabbing a detention slip. She filled it out and shoved it into his chest. Cole cringed again, knowing his parents would not be pleased.

“You, detention, from four to five! You’ll be lucky if I don’t make you pay for this locker too!” She said, sighing as she returned to her classroom. Cole rolled his eyes and looked at the slip with distaste. He shoved it into his pocket, and storming past the room, he glanced inside to what he believes to see is his teacher drinking alcohol. He stared for a moment before pushing past the school’s backdoors. He went across the school’s field to go sit under the bleachers, his usual spot for letting off steam. 

He made it under the bleachers and sat down in his usual spot. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a single cigarette and his trusty lighter. He put the tanned end of his cigarette in his mouth and lit it. He could finally relax as soon as the nicotine entered his lungs relieving the stress of his upcoming detention. He sat there for a while taking a few puffs thinking about his now ex-girlfriend. Questioning his self-worth and contemplating what he could have done to keep her as his. The nicotine lost its charm and he finally started to feel the sadness creep up into his throat. He couldn’t breathe and it wasn’t from the smoke he kept putting into his body. Tears were welling up in his eyes and fighting them back just made him suffocate. He forced his tears down.  _ Don’t cry at school, wait until nobody can hear you _ ; echoed constantly and relentlessly in his mind. He rubbed the cigarette in the dirt successfully putting it out and got up to leave. After all he does have detention soon and he wouldn’t want his parents battering him with questions as to why he skipped it. 

He started walking through the halls and he passed the locker that he dented. The locker had its owner with it this time. He seemed to be shocked and confused as to why his locker was dented and decorated with blood from an unknown source. The owner seemed to be Jay Walker, a fellow classmate in Cole’s class. He had olive skin with a light brushing of freckles that complimented his ocean eyes. His hair was curly, auburn, and it barely went over his ears. He stood shorter than Cole and was probably around 5’11. He dressed casually, but still cared about his appearance enough to wear nice jeans and care about his hair. Cole quickly rushed past him and accidentally pushed him into his locker resulting in Jay cursing him out. He eventually made his way to his detention.

He walked confidently into the classroom where detention was being held. Luckily for him nobody was here yet. The room was fairly boring, as most highschool classrooms are. He sat down in a seat near the back of the classroom and put his head down against the desk trying to relax as best as he could. Before the teacher got into the dull room, he had pulled out an airpod from his case and put it into his ear. His hair went down to his midneck, allowing him to hide the small device in his ear, perfect for hiding it from teachers. He grabbed his phone, turning on Greenday, clearly the best band one could listen to.

He felt his phone go off on multiple occasions, no doubt his parents asking him where he was. They were like that, very strict, obnoxious, uncaring, and very physical with their lecturing. He rolled his eyes again, grabbing his phone to silence it. He glanced around the small room, seeing a total of five other students. The room was small, dense, and it had no windows, at all, very adequate for a detention room. He set his down on the table, hoping to sleep through this boring hour. He was about to fall asleep when all of the students heard a rough slam of a door and the teacher who would be supervising them stumbling in.

The teacher sat down in the office chair that faced towards the class and attempted to speak, but her words were slurred. Of course it was the teacher from earlier. Students are surprised she hasn’t been fired yet, but that’s besides the point. This has brought up an opportunity to escape and Cole was going to take it. He got up gingerly and asked to go to the restroom and he did. Well, he actually went out the backdoors and started his way home. It’s not too far of a walk. He did have a motorcycle, a nice one at that, but his parents had to take away the keys, and now he has to walk everywhere. 

The peaceful walk home was interrupted by a snake’s voice repeatedly asking,

“Cole?” 

There was a pause and then she kept speaking.

“Cole? Cole, I know you can hear me.. Stop ignoring me please..” 

“Just leave me alone Nya.” Cole snapped, not bothering to turn around.

“Cole please… I just want to talk.”

“Nya.. Leave now..” 

“Cole-”

“Leave me alone!!” 

Nya looked at him and turned around with tears in her eyes. Cole just kept walking, not letting his emotions get to him, or at least he was trying. The walk home was a battle of keeping his tears held down until he was safe inside his room. The front step of his house never looked so good, until he remembered his parents were home and he got detention. He stared at the door contemplating if he should open it or figure out a way to self combust. He decided it’s easier to open a door than self combust. He started opening the door and heard,

“Cole, inside, now.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is wild guys, also warning for language and depictions of domestical violence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as I said in the chapter descriptions, this chapter has a lot of swearing and domestic violence, so if you're uncomfortable with that or triggered by it, then you might wanna skip that part.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> If we get good feedback on this, we'll actually make a publishing schedule, instead of posting and writing when we're bored, so let's hope this goes well! :D
> 
> Okay, so this after posted it, we realized the italics on here are not working, so we'll try and fix it quickly!
> 
> Alright! We fixxed it, things in italics is Cole thinking btw! :D

“Cole, inside, now.” A cold voice said. Cole froze momentarily. 

“Maybe I will just die here..” He mumbled to himself, refusing to be scared. Why would he be scared..? 

“Cole, would you mind explaining to us why you broke a locker?” 

“I was… I was- uh.” 

“Always trying to make up excuses! Ugh, we already know why. You can’t even control yourself? What are you an animal? You sure act like one.” 

“I’m sorry mom” He said while he started to tense knowing that his peaceful night was about to change. 

“Sorry? Sorry isn’t good enough for broken property and you should know better. I swear you think money grows on trees. Me and your father are very disappointed, but what’s new. You constantly use up our money,  _ That we work for _ , not you. You are reckless and irresponsible and ruin everything.” 

She picked up the nearest item, which was an empty wine bottle.  _ Oh great they’ve been drinking.  _ She started walking aggressively towards Cole armed with an empty bottle of classic rosé. He tried to escape her but he was trapped in a corner. He instead put his arms up to protect his face and then he was hit. He was hit with the bottle and at first the impact was the worst of it. The glass broke and shattered around him leaving him in a shimmering sea. Instead of stopping there his dearly beloved mother kept hitting him. The bottle unfortunately wasn’t a bottle anymore so it started cutting him, and holy shit did that hurt. He tried fighting back and eventually got her off of him. He immediately ran to the bathroom. He quickly slammed the door behind him, making a loud thud before locking it.

“Cole! Get your ass out of that bathroom! NOW!” The animalistic woman screamed as she was pounding on the door. Cole did nothing but stare at the door, inching back as much as he could, to get as far away from that woman he called mother as he could. The only time he ever truly felt fear was when he was with his parents. Sweat dripped down his forehead and he finally felt the damage done by his mother. His arms were bleeding and were damaged pretty decently. Of course it isn’t the worst they’ve done, his dad is definitely worse. His attention went back to his arms which were now starting to drip onto his shirt.  _ Why the fuck did I wear grey _ . His shirt was starting to stain and Cole was not happy. The fluid started to dry onto his shirt, which he knew would not come out at all, the shirt was basically ruined.  _ Damn, it was comfortable too.  _

He slowly dropped himself to the cool flooring, peeking under the door to see if his Mom was still there. He took a sigh of relief when he realized she was gone. He slowly opened the door, glancing around before quickly making his way to his room, trying not to drip any blood on the flooring. He quickly closed and locked his door, and then for safe measures, his windows. He took a sigh as he slid down to the floor, willing himself not to cry. The adrenaline was gone now and all he felt were harsh stings of the bottles cuts. He sat there for a minute, pulling himself together before slowly reaching under his bed to grab a first aid kit. 

“This is probably going to hurt..A lot, but it’s fine…” Cole muttered to himself as he pulled out disinfectant spray and bandages. He sprayed one of his arms with the disinfectant spray, holding in a hiss of pain as it cleaned his cuts. Some of his cuts were fairly deep, but he deemed them fine and not in need of stitches.  _ I do not need to do that on my own again.-  _ He finished spraying his arms, and started rapping them up fairly tightly. He was rather good at this now and knew what he was doing when it came to dealing with cuts. He remained on the floor for quite some time, before standing up and going to do homework like none of that happened.

Homework took him the rest of the night, and for obvious reasons, he skipped dinner as-well. His homework took him until 2 in the morning to finish, which was normal since he was an AP honors student. Which most people found surprising because of his behavior and lack of attendance. His parents would definitely murder him if he was a bad student and a rebellious kid at once, so he decided only one of those options for now. But right now he needed to focus, he had a huge lab prep he needed to prepare for AP Physics. The project was 40% of his grade and he couldn’t fail this. He needed to pass high school with flying colors if he wanted to leave his house.

Their lab prep was fairly easy, doing it tomorrow was going to be a huge thorn in his side. They had to somehow create a continuous flow of energy from completely random objects their teacher assigns them. After making said continuous flow of energy, they need to manage to get the electricity to do one of these two things; Create a small arc of electricity between the objects, or manage to get their electricity to transfer power into a completely different object to “charge” it. Other than that, they don’t know much about the assignment. Their idiotic teacher always goes off about thinking outside the box and find new solutions. Their teacher doesn’t actually know how to do science, most of their class is convinced of it. 

_ Whatever, as long as I get a good grade.  _ Cole sighed, leaning back in his chair, rubbing his face. He was completely exhausted at this point, not to mention he’d have to wake up early to cover any bruising on his face with makeup… He stole the makeup from his mom, so he really doesn’t care how he uses it.  _ That bitch doesn’t deserve anything anyways.  _ He rubbed his face, returning to the paper. 

“Alright… Electricity arcs will probably be more interesting to make, and maybe if it goes wrong we’ll all pass.” Cole mumbled, being very sarcastic. He continued reading the paper, reading;  _ To make a classroom safe arc, safety precautions must be used incase of emergency, if handled well there will be a simple arc of electricity and it will be gone in a flash, don’t use more power than necessary, fires and immense heat can occur.  _ Cole stopped reading, rubbing his eyes and groaning slightly.

“Nope, charging something it, too much work and safety shit for the arc..” He grumbled as he dropped his pencil, resting his head on the papers. “This is such a pain in the ass.” He yawned out, starting to close his eyes. The day's events were finally catching up to him, and he didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep until his phone’s alarm woke him the next day.

_ Fuck. Shit shit SHIT.  _ He fell asleep without even finishing his lab and now he has to rush his makeup. Ugh this day couldn’t get any worse. He rushed to the bathroom where he had makeup just for this reason and that’s when he saw his face. He had a bruise on his right cheek that was pretty nasty looking.  _ Jesus Christ fuck me.  _ Cole sighed, getting out his color corrector and concealer. Luckily most of his wounds were on his arms and body, so he could just wear a sweatshirt. The bruise was being a bitch to cover up and he didn’t have time to really put much effort into his makeup this morning. He took one last look in the mirror and he decided it was good enough. 

His motorcycle keys were out on the counter.  _ My parents probably forgot to move them last night _ . He picked up the keys and headed outside to start up his black 1980 Honda CB that his grandparents gave to him in their will. Everyday he misses them more, but he didn’t have time to linger he had to get to school. So he hopped on and turned the ignition, and boy did he miss the rev of the engine. He immediately relaxed when he started driving; it was his coping mechanism watching the scenery pass by and having the wind blow against his body. He got to school quicker than he would have liked and he remembered his fucking physics lab. He parked the bike a bit away from the school so fuckers wouldn’t try and trash it. 

He eventually made it through the front doors with 15 minutes until class.  _ Well today was going to be boring, great, just great..  _ Cole groaned to himself as he made his way through the dense hallways.  _ Of course I have AP English first, of course.  _ He sighed to himself as he dropped his backpack haphazardly onto the floor next to him. The rest of the day up until lunch was the same, which is just boring and normal, in history class after AP English, he fell asleep and somehow stayed asleep for the entirety of the class period. Lunch finally came and he was shoving past people to get to his locker. He still had to do that lab and this was the time to rush it. 

He made his way to his locker and quickly picked up the lab prep and headed to the bleachers outside. Once he made it to his spot under them he set a timer on his phone that way he could make it back to class on time. He sat down and got to work.  _ I only have five more questions _ . He started writing down the last few questions, which were just mainly boring safety procedures in general, which is honestly boring to him. He managed to finish it right as the warning bell for the end of lunch just went off. He quickly grabbed everything and ran to class as fast as he could, today could not be one of the days he missed class.

He rushed into the science classroom and fell onto his seat right as the bell went off.

“Mr. Brookstone, you need to be on time more, you do know if you’re not in your seat when the bell goes off, you get a detention.” The annoyed looking teacher explained to him. The class snickered as he just rolled his eyes and nodded. The teacher started explaining their final project and Cole already knew what was going to happen, so he was zoned out through the entire thing. He was daydreaming about eating food before he heard his teacher mention a slight change. He snapped his head up as the teacher started explaining they were to be in groups.

“Due to last years, er,  _ incident  _ you will now be in groups. You are all smart kids, so you’ll be able to work together.” All the students grinned but Cole, and started choosing who they were going to be with, Cole rolled his eyes and looked back at the teacher who smirked like the bastard he is. “Oh, and the group’s are completely random.” All of the students stopped and groaned, some putting their heads on the desks. The teacher just laughed and started reading off the names. Cole rolled his eyes and sighed. He knew he’d probably be by himself, the class had an odd number of people, he was literally smarter than all of them, and his idiotic teacher at leasts knows he works well by himself and won’t traumatize anyone.

Cole just sighed and started to grab his lab papers and then froze when he heard the teacher start to say his name.  _ Oh no, oh no way in HELL am I working with someone.  _ Cole thought angrily as his teacher listed his name.

“Cole Brookstone and Jay Walker will also be a group together.” The teacher said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.  _ That motherfucker did NOT just put me in a group, what the actual fuck-  _ Cole was interuppted of his internal monologue when some kid with chocolate brown hair, electric blue eyes, and a face littered with small freckles sit next to him.  _ Who the fuc- Oh shit.  _ Cole remembered him being the kid whose locker he destroyed and shoved out of the way the day before. The kid, Jay, looked small and weak, and for some unknown reason, did not seem to remember him, thank God. 

“Hey I’m Ja-” Cole shut him up with a glare before getting up and going to their lab table. The rest of the class either seemed to be amused or shocked. Cole might not have known who Jay was, but the rest of the class obviously did. Cole rolled his eyes as Jay walked over, not seeming to care about the glaring thing from earlier. 

“Listen James, or whatever your name is.” Cole started, while Jay looked adequately annoyed. “I don’t want you fucking up my grade, what lab prep did you do? The arc or the charging one?” Cole asked, the kid huffed. 

“First off, my name is Jay, not James, second off I’m not a moron, and third, I did the one with the arc.” Jay said, crossing his arms. 

“Okay we did the same prep. You stay here and set up the basics while I go and get the rest of the supplies, okay?” Cole monotoned. He clearly wasn’t happy about the partnership. Cole walked with a clear direction and purpose. He couldn’t get distracted or waste time on anything. His grade depended on it. He picked up the items that they needed, which were previously laid out for the students to use. Quickly, he walked back to their lab bench and set everything down.  _ At least he set up the basics for us, maybe he’ll be helpful, maybe?  _

“Thanks for setting the basics up.” again he said this in monotone. 

“Uh... yeah no problem dude. It’s part of my very important job as your lab partner.” He gleamed happily. Cole cringed a bit at the bright sunshine person he was partnered with. He rolled his eyes and looked over all the safety procedures. He glanced at Jay and sighed, annoyed.

“You’re forgetting something.” Cole said, raising a brow. Jay looked confused.

“I am?” He questioned. Cole nodded and shoved a pair of safety goggles into his hands.

“I don’t want points getting marked off because your dumbass forgot safety goggles.” Cole grumbled, beginning to set up the wires. The project itself didn’t seem too complicated at all really, they just had to be very precise about this. “Alright, you should focus on setting up the wires while I start working on a way to make a continuous flow of energy, got it?” He explained, sounding like he was talking to a three year old. 

“Stop acting like I’m going to blow everything up! It’ll be fiiiine, I know what I’m doing!” Jay said happily, quickly going to go set up the wires. Cole simply rolled his eyes yet again because of his annoyingly perky attitude.  _ How can someone so tiny have so much energy and happiness, Jesus Christ.  _ He was looking around at the supplies he brought over and realized he forgot something. He forgot his pencil to write down the results.  _ Of course I left my pencil on my desk. Now I have to leave this idiot here unattended, Great.  _

“Jay, I’ll be right back. Do NOT cause any problems.” 

Cole was walking to go get his pencil. He wasn’t as nervous about leaving Jay alone since he seemed smart enough to not mess with anything until Cole got back. He picked up his pencil and was just starting to turn around when  _ it  _ happened. _ Of course he couldn’t trust the dumbass.  _ The second he turned around he saw a frizzled teen and that their station caught on fire.  _ Well this is fucking great. _ The teacher immediately noticed and got the fire extinguisher. He told a student to call the office and to tell them that there was an electrical fire occurring. 

“I got it guys!” Jay said with so much pride and a water bottle in hand.

“JAY NO DO NOT PUT WATER ON IT!!!” Cole was livid at this point. His grade was about to drop because of some auburn haired sunshine idiot. 

The professor was already there though. Pushing Jay away for his safety and putting the probably expired fire extinguisher to use. Jay at this point was brain dead from the shock he endured.  _ How is he not passed out or something??  _ Cole isn’t heartless so he goes to go check on his screwy “partner.” Cole checking on him isn’t really asking him questions or anything; he just peers over to make sure he isn’t, you know, dead. Which he still seems to be blabbering like a brain dead toddler, so he isn’t dead. Cole noticed he had a pretty good burn on the side of his face traveling down to a part of his arm. 

“I feel kinda funny-” Jay muttered out, trying to walk but started to fall over. Cole grabbed his idiotic partners arm and dragged him away right as the fire alarms started going off.

“Oh you have to be kidding me…” Cole growled, following the class as the teacher kept using his expired fire extinguisher. “Here, take him.” Cole grumbled as he shoved Jay into someone else, so they could deal with him. He quickly ran down the hallway to find an extinguisher he knew was not old and actually worked and sprayed down the fire. Everyone was already outside and it was only him and the teacher that remained.

“You, Brookstone, outside, now.” His teacher said, clearly annoyed beyond hell. Cole rolled his eyes and coughed a bit as he left the burned and smoky room. He stormed through the hallway and pushed through the school’s backdoor to see the majority of the school’s students outside. He rolled his eyes, not bothering to be polite as he shoved past them, looking for his class. He found them all huddled in the further part of the field. It wasn’t exactly warm outside, but not that cold either. He noticed they were gathered around someone.  _ Probably my dumbass of a partner.  _ He sighed and walked up to them. He saw Jay sitting on the floor, looking like he was in quite a bit of pain. He walked up near the center, still looking mildly annoyed. 

“So, you weren’t going to blow anything up and it was, quoting you, fine?” Cole fumed. Some of his class looked at him like he was crazy, while the other part looked almost angry at Cole, but he could care less. “Like seriously, how stupid does one have to be-” He started before hsi teacher cut him off. 

“Alright students, that was a very unfortunate situation, was anyone besides Jay near the fire?” Their teacher questioned, everyone shook their heads. “Alright, I’m going to say your names, you say here, you know how this works.” He started listing off their names, he skipped Jay’s because honestly, he shouldn’t be talking right now. After everyone was accounted for, they sat down and waited for the firemen to appear. Cole sat further away from the group for obvious reasons.  _ I probably pissed them off, but they can get over themselves, if I didn’t have such an idiotic partner we wouldn’t be here right now and I would have my A. I swear to God if I get in trouble because some tiny go happy elf person messed up my grade I swear I’m going to.-  _ Cole’s internal rant was cut off by the distant noise of a firetruck.

He looked up to see the red vehicle pull up, fully dressed in fire gear and everything. Cole rolled his eyes yet again,  _ they took way too long, the whole building would have been burned down by now if he didn’t help put out that fire.  _ Their science teacher was talking to the firemen, explaining what had happened. One of them nodded and started explaining something, Cole couldn’t hear it because he was too far away, but they were probably going to make sure no real damage had been done. He seemed to be right when three of them went inside to go make sure everything wasn’t too bad. 

They ended up staying outside for almost an hour, which seemed kind of excessive to Cole, but it didn’t matter, school was technically almost done and then he could go somewhere else. He was looking around and saw Nya and that red headed girl talking about something, he didn’t care though, why would he? She doesn’t matter to him anymore, so why does he care so much. He quickly lost that train of thought when the teachers finally let them back inside and the fire department left. He was going to leave as quickly as possible before someone stopped him.

“Cole, I need you to take Jay to the nurses office, because you were his lab partner and we want to make sure nothing happened to you too.” Their teacher explained. All Cole could do was stare,  _ Does this idiot really think I’m actually going to help him?  _ “And if you don’t a week’s worth of detention.” Cole just stared at his teacher before briskly nodding and turning to go help Jay. As he approached he was stopped by some other students he didn’t bother learning the names of. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” One of them asked, they had dark reddish brown hair color, amber eyes, and a really annoying look on his face. Cole merely raised a brow.

“Why does that matter to you?” He asked, feeling annoyed as he started to go around him. 

“Because he’s my friend and you seem like a douche.” The other one said, stepping in front of him again. “So Cole,” The guy had said his name like it was venom. “Tell me why you want to go near Jay, you’ve already made your point, so why bother him again? He’s clearly in pain and we don’t need trash like you to come near him.” The guy finished, having a stern look in his eyes. 

“Well look dipstick, the teacher wants me to take him to the nurses office because this dumbass lit everything on fire, so if you’ll excuse me.” Cole pushed past him again and pulled Jay up off the floor like it was nothing. Jay made a slightly pained noise as Cole dragged him to the nurse's office. The guy looked furious at this and stormed off. Cole just smirked as they went inside. They eventually got to the nurses office. He dropped Jay onto the weird little beds they always have in the nurse's office and waited for the nurse to come back. He assumed the nurse was still heading back after the situation. As they waited, Cole was giving Jay death glares the entire time and Jay was looking around awkwardly. 

“Hello boys, I was informed before I got here of what happened, Jay, can I do some tests to find out how serious your injuries are? Cole I’ll get to you in a minute.” The nurse said cheerfully. Cole waited in a chair as the nurse looked over Jay. 

“You’ve got some electrical burns and they look pretty bad.. Do you feel off or have any pain?”

“Uh, yeah my head hurts and my arm has been tingling a bit, but other than that no.” 

“Okay so normal electrical shock symptoms. Take some pain relief medication and relax a lot. Cole, come here.” Cole got up and switched places with Jay.  _ Fuck my cuts and shit. How the hell am I going to explain that?! _

“Do you really need to check me out? I feel fine, so I am fine.” 

“Cole, I just need to make sure that you aren’t so that the school can make an account of how many got injured.” 

“Alright, fine.” 

“Can you take off your sweatshirt please so I can see your arms?” 

“Sure, I was skating yesterday and fell so there’s already some cuts and bruises there.” Cole hated lying but he did not need a domestic abuse claim against his family. Hopefully she’ll believe it. 

“Oh Lord it must have been a nasty fall… Do you want some new bandages?” She looked very concerned and her tone matched her face. He hated when people pitied him, he didn't need the worried or concerned. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Jay cringing at the display of harm in front of him. He almost looked worried, but he probably wasn’t, he is a stranger after all. 

“Yeah I’ll take a new wrapping. It saves me time later, so thanks.” Cole smiled while he talked. Of course it wasn’t genuine, but being from a business family means you’re good at faking it until you make it. The Nurse got up to get bandages and some water for Jay. For the first time since Physics the boys were alone. 

“I didn’t know you could smile, cause last time I checked stone cold rocks don’t show emotion.” Jay taunted at him.  _ Jeez, you think shocking the entire english language out of his mind would have stopped him from talking for a bit?  _

“Oh shut up you walking fire hazard..” Jay silenced for the record time of two seconds. 

“Wannabe emo edgelord…” Jay had always been one for speaking words, not always smart words. Cole has just learned to not care about words, like at all. He gets bullied pretty frequently so nothing really fases him. 

“Alright,  _ Sparky _ .” Cole isn’t the best at insults or anything he usually keeps his mouth shut, so he has the social common sense of a rock. 

“Sparky? Really? I mean I think it’s a pretty cute name. Maybe the girls will call me it.” Jay’s statement is immediately followed by the laughter of Cole. 

“I’m being serious, what should I call you, oh I know. HARD BOY… Wait no, uh nevermind that. Hmmm how about, geode!”

“That’s dumb. Why a geode? Also just call me Cole, shithead.” Cole loves rocks and all, but being named after a “pretty” rock is not something he will consent to. 

“No reason, and nope.” Before Cole could complain the Nurse came back and started wrapping Cole up again. 

“Alrighty, there you go. Please be more careful skating!” Cole quickly thanked her and smiled again and went back off to class. 

“Geode! Buddy wait up!”  _ Why the fuck won’t he shut up. He has been electrocuted and for some reason is still being loud, I swear to God.  _ Cole ignored him and kept walking to his next class and final class of the day. 

“Geode!! gEoDe!!”  _ I’m going to kill him and then myself if he doesn’t shut up. _

“What?” 

“OH MY GOD YOU RESPONDED TO YOUR NICKNAME!” 

_ It’s official I’m going to kill him and then myself.  _


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're here just sitting in the car.

_ Well, today sucked.  _ Cole was grumbling to himself. He was walking to his motorcycle, which seemed unharmed. He was around 30 feet away from his mode of transportation. 

“Hey rich kid!” A familiar, yet unpleasant voice yelled at him.  _ You’ve got to be kidding me. _ Again he just kept walking. It was his specialty ignoring people, so he just kept walking towards the bike. He walked taking his time; he wanted to see what they were going to do. 

“Hey I’m talking to you!” He got pulled back by the hood of his sweatshirt.  _ I have homework to do tonight. I don’t have time for this.  _

“Can you just tell me why you’re yanking on my shit and wasting my time? I’ve got places to be and better things to be doing.” The consistent and overall bored tone surprised the guy who was holding onto his hood. The grip on his hoodie tightened and he got pulled down. He didn’t go where he was being pulled. 

“So, why are you harassing me?” Annoyance was clear in his voice. He just wanted to go home and finish his work. 

“Cause you have no respect for us and my friend.” The guy spoke with bitterness. 

“Respect? I helped him and carried him to the nurse, and you think I have no respect? Buddy I don’t think you have respect for me.” Right as he finished his last sentence he got slammed into the ground.  _ Well that’s gonna make my face worse, great.  _

“Ah so you came to hurt me. Well go wild. I can sue you if you cause some more damage.” 

“Why’d you let him blow up shit? And then harass him when he could barely talk!” More pressure was on his back and it was starting to get painful simply because they were on asphalt and his already existent wounds are getting murdered from this. 

“It’s not my fault that he’s a dumbass that couldn’t wait for me to come back.”

“Here you are still calling him a stupid piece of shit, it shows that you rich kids have nothing but money to define you. Personalities don’t exist with you and neither does basic human emotion.Can’t even treat your girlfriends right. All you guys are pieces of gold plated shit!”  _ Oh so this wasn’t really about Jay. I literally leave everyone alone why do they always fuck with me.  _

__ “So this isn’t really about your friend? You only came out here to harass me because of how much my family makes? Are you really that petty? You couldn’t even do this without an excuse? Needed your little friend to get hurt to give you a noble reason to hate me? Wow. Pathetic. Even I know that’s a shitty way to use your friends.”  _ I’ll regret saying this but fuck it, if I’m going to get hurt may as well make it last.  _

There was no verbal response to his last words. It instead was a physical response. His attacker stood up; the silence definitely signified that there was rage bubbling in the man behind him. A swift kick to his side was the first of his brutal assaults. Again,and again directly into his side. Cole’s mind was blank from God knows what. Maybe the shock of getting hurt or purley the pain itself. Probably a mix of both. Coughing became a new sense of pain in Cole’s lungs.  _ Well fuck.  _ Was all that rang through his head. Then blood appeared on the ground in front of his face and that’s when he realised he needed to stop this without hurting the attacker. His family won’t allow him to fight back because it makes the business look bad even if it is self defense. 

“Kai, stop.” Another familiar voice this one seemed cooler and unbothered.  _ Probably the other guy from before. Wait, when did he get here?  _

“Kai stop for the love of God stop beating him. I swear your rage is uncontrollable sometimes.” The voice spoke again this time walking closer to where the scene was happening. The cool toned guy seemed to be trying to remove the aggressive hothead from Cole. 

“PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN ZANE! I”M NOT DONE WITH HIM!!” At this point Cole was fading in and out of consciousness. Small whimpers of pain emerge from his body every once in a while. Zane was successful in calming Kai down and convinced Kai to leave. Zane approached the practically useless lump of flesh in front of him. 

“Well, Fuck he did a lot of damage to you.” Zane murmured under his breath. He didn’t seem like the person to swear. He was one of those people who was well-mannered and had tons of self-control. He went to pick up Cole and did so successfully. Carrying him over his shoulder heading to his car. Cole whimpered and hissed in pain almost every step of the way. Zane cringed at the fact he was hurt this much. They made it to his car which was nice considering it was a highschooler’s car. 

“Hey, can you hear me?” 

“Hm..Yeah?” 

“Okay so at least you can respond. That's good.” A sigh of relief was released after Zane said that.

“Mm.. Where am I?”

“My car after Kai fucked you up.” 

“Oh.. Can you take me home? I have homework I need to do.” Cole asked innocently and completely dazed. 

“Oh and can you take me to go get some food? I’m hungry..” Again innocence coated his tone. He clearly didn’t understand that he needed help with his existing wounds. 

“Cole, you can get food after I help you, okay?” 

“Okay that’s fine, but I’m not even hurt that badly.”  _ It does hurt, I just want to finish my homework and eat. Like sure I’m in pain and shit, but that can wait.  _

“Cole I am helping you so don’t complain. Just work on homework on the way.”

“On the way to where?” 

“Convenience Store for ice.” 

“Okay.” 

Cole instead of doing homework falls asleep on the car ride. Drooling onto the car seat like an old pug. 

“Okay, we’re here. Cole? Oh you’re sleeping.”

“No, I’m awake now. You woke me up on the last bump.” 

“Oh, sorry. Do you want to come in to get food? If you feel like it, that is.” 

“Sure, I think I’m okay enough to walk for a little bit.” 

The convenience store was nice and air conditioned to the point of it feeling like a blizzard. Fluorescent lights were blaring and made their typical buzz. Cole walked and cringed trying to suppress his pain. He stumbled across the snack aisle and his legs were moving without a single brain cell telling him to do so.  _ Oh my god they have ramen and cupcakes. This is great!!!  _ He picked up as much as his arms could carry of spicy beef ramen and crappy prepackaged orange cupcakes. The smile on his face was so wide and genuinely happy it could make dead flowers grow. 

“Xanax I got my food!” Cole was practically glowing at this point.

“My name is Zane, not an illicit drug.” 

“Oh, sorry.” He still was smiling. 

“GEODE MY GUY!!!” 

“SPARKY!!!” Cole was giggling now and Jay was confused. Yes, even he was confused. 

“Uh.. When did you get all nice? Oh, hi Zane!” 

“Hey Jay. Cole got pretty hurt by Kai and is a bit off. I think.” 

“Oh what did he do to make  _ him  _ act like a happy dog?” Jay said waving his hands to motion at Cole.

“Uh Jay it wasn’t anything light. I got there at the end and Kai was kicking him repeatedly. Positive he even coughed up blood.”

“Oh shit that isn’t good at all. Here I’ll get some ice for you guys.” 

“Can I have extra ice to eat?” Cole asked with the same innocence as before. 

“Yeah sure. I think he’s broken. I’ll be right back.” Jay seemed to be laughing a bit as he went to get the ice. 

“So, Cole, did you get the food you wanted?” 

“Mhm.Yep I got spicy ramen and little cupcakes… OH. and ice.” Cole said with a bit of a slur and a huge smile on his face. His arms were full of the food items he had just mentioned, besides the ice. The store seemed to be empty with only Jay working right now. 

“Are you sure you need that much?” Zane questioned the beaten boy. 

“Are you fat shaming me?” Cole says with the most serious face he’s had since he got beat up. To say the least he looked like a serial killer. 

“Uh, no, just that’s a lot of food and I don’t have a lot of money on me right now.” Zane was a bit nervous because of the food hoarding demon in front of him. 

“Oh, that’s okay just use my credit card.” Cole said, smiling again. 

“No it’s fine just take two of each thing you got and we’ll be good.” 

“Hey guys sorry for the wait, the ice machine got ice built up in it, so I had to clean it. Anyway, my shift is over in 15 minutes. Can I come with you guys when I’m done? I need a ride.” Jay said with his usual smile and held the ice towards Cole. He willingly took the ice and smiled back. 

“Sure Jay.” Zane said, smiling a bit at his friend.

“Microwave and chairs are in the staff room if you want to make your ramen Cole.” Jay smiled and pointed in the direction of the staff room. Cole hobbled over to the staff room, smiling to himself and hugging the food. Cole closed the door, leaving it cracked slightly as he started heating water in the microwave. He heard Jay and Zane speaking quietly. He looked confused and walked near the door, listening to the two speak.

“So, Zane, What happened to him? Because all I know is that Kai kicked him and he started coughing blood. Why is he even in here? He should be at home or even a hospital not a convenience store to buy food.” Jay said with a decent amount of concern in his voice. 

“Well, Kai early today said he was going to do something, because of how he treated you when you got shocked. I didn’t expect him to actually hurt him this bad. I was expecting some talking, maybe a punch, but it was really excessive. I don’t really know what happened before but when I got there it was bad. Also, we are here because he wanted food and he needed ice. He was actually more persistent about food rather than health, seems he was more concerned about that than his own health, which is concerning. But he seems to be doing better… ish.” 

The beep of the microwave brought Cole back to his current task. He hurried over to his ramen and took it out of the microwave adding the seasoning packet to it and stirring it thoroughly. He sat down in the plastic folding chairs that looked grey, rather than the white they once were. He set his food down on the table in front of him and started eating his ramen. He made both of them at once and he was determined to finish them before they left. Zane came into check on him to make sure he didn’t set fire to the staff room a few minutes after the microwave dinged. He said nothing and left the room, content to see that Cole was in fact not dead, but peacefully eating ramen. Jay walked into the room to get his bag of personal belongings and his water bottle. 

“Hey Geode, I got you a drink. I hope you like sprite.” Jay set the fountain drink down in front of Cole. Zane followed Jay in to help get Cole out of the room and to his car. 

“Thank you, I’ll pay you and Zane back back tomorrow.” Cole said while yawning mid-sentence.  _ Jeez, when did I get so tired?  _

“No need my dude. I just used my employee stuff to get you a drink, but keep it on the down-low we can’t have my boss knowing.” A smirk was evident on Jay’s face. 

“ Don’t worry about paying me back either; take it as an apology from me.” 

“Whatever you say, but I’m still paying you guys back..” His words were slurring again.  _ When did the ceiling start spinning?  _ “Maybe we should leave, I’m starting to feel..off.” Cole mumbled. 

“Probably a good idea. Do you have all of your stuff Jay? I’ll need your help carrying him to my car.” 

“Yep and okay!” Jay chirped, picking up his stuff, and grabbed one of Cole’s arms, slinging it around his shoulder as Zane did the same. They slowly made it out to the car, Zane grabbed the door of the backseat, opening it as Jay helped him get inside slowly.

“Thanks-” Cole slurred. Jay snickered a bit, looking at Zane. Zane only sighed as he went to the front of the car.

“You should probably sit back there with him, to make sure he doesn’t fall and die or something.” Zane said nonchalantly. Jay nodded, getting in the backseat with Cole.

“No problemo my guy! Nothing like hanging out with my friend Geode here!” He grinned, buckling himself in. Cole made an overdramatic groan as he looked at Jay.

“You’re being too loud, shut up.” Cole snapped before falling forward, his head hitting the back of the drivers chair. Jay looked amused at this but shrugged, laughing. 

“Uhh buddy, Geode, my guy, we don’t know where you live.” Jay said, mocking sweetness. Cole glared at him, head still against the chair. He flipped them off as he muttered,

“Just check my phone- has my address.” He grumbled, falling down slightly further yet again. Zane rolled his eyes this time, going through Cole’s bag and grabbing his phone. 

“Cole, I need your password.” Zane sighed, expecting an annoyed response. At this, Cole kicked his seat, but said,

“069420.” He muttered, completely serious. Jay burstered out laughing. 

“I don’t know what to say about that, but I won’t question it.” Zane sighed, ignoring Jay’s laughter as Cole looked like he was about to rip off Jay's head. Zane put in the passcode, and found his location. As he clicked directions, Cole got a notification from “Bitch Whore.” Zane raised a brow at that, he didn’t mean to read the message, but his eyes were there anyways. It read:  _ Where the hell are you!? It’s 7 and we had dinner reservations???  _ Zane looked concerned at this and looked back at Cole.

_ “ _ Uh Cole, you got a notification from uh- Bitch Whore? Asking where you were. Apparently you had dinner reservations.” Zane said, sounding almost uncomfortable. Zane could feel Cole tense up behind him and prepared himself for yelling.

“Of course that stupid bitch is asking questions, why would she not, she has no right to ask, not like she would care, and had a- a fucking five star ramen and cupcake meal! I don’t need no dinner reservations with them.” He ranted before realizing he was probably not responding to this very well. “Wait- You went through my phone?” He questioned, his voice dripping with venom. At this point Jay shrunk into his chair, not wanting to deal with this. 

“I didn’t mean to Cole, the notification popped up right as I looked for your address, I truly did not mean to look.” Zane explained. Cole looked livid and snatched his phone from Zane. Zane merely sighed and typed the address into his own phone. The drive was 20 minutes, not too long, and Zane knew even though Jay was closer, he’d want him to drop off Cole first. They started the drive, playing no music and just being silent for Cole, not wanting to make his head hurt even more. At one point, Zane hit a bump and because Cole forgot to put on a seatbelt, he fell back and then to the side, landing his head right onto Jay’s shoulder. Jay stiffened immediately, staring at Cole and not really knowing how to respond. 

“Uhh Cole, buddy, Geode, wanna wake up maybe…” Jay said nervously, not really knowing how to respond with this. Like sure, he’s sleeping, but first off he’ll kill Jay, second off, well, it’s just not good! “Uhh Zane- Cole fell- and landed on me- and I don’t know what to do!” Jay whisper yelled. Zane glanced back in the mirror, almost looking amused.

“Well don’t move him, he’s sleeping.” He simply replied. Jay sputtered, staring at Zane.

“I can’t just leave him on me! When he wakes up, he’ll kill me!” Jay whispered, trying to not move Cole. He saw Zane shrug.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Zane supplied, “Now shush, you’ll wake him up.” And that was the end of that conversation. At this point Jay was probably more red than an apple, but he didn’t move. As they continued to drive, with Jay still feeling nervous, but less so, Cole muttered something in his sleep, which sounded suspiciously like pizza roll, and grabbed Jay’s arm, and hugging it, his head still somehow on his shoulder. Jay made a very dignified noise, which caused Zane to look back and laugh before stopping himself, trying not to wake Cole.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me!” Jay hissed at Zane, who was still snickering in the front. 

“It is quite amusing Jay.” He supplied. Jay huffed, trying to get ole off of his arm, but failed. When they got up to a stop light, Zane quickly turned around, holding his phone to take a picture. 

“Don’t you do it Zane!” Jay screeched, still keeping his voice to a whisper. Zane snickered, taking a picture before turning around, right as the light turned green. Jay sighed, looking absolutely done. When they started getting closer to his house, Cole stirred a bit, which caused Jay to tense. He stared at Cole, slowly trying to move his arm as they pulled up to his house. As he slowly moved his arm away, Cole grabbed his arm tighter, pulling it closer to him. Zane looked back as he was holding Cole’s backpack, snickering as he poked Cole. 

“No! Don’t! He’ll kill me!” Jay said, looking petrified. Zane only shrugged and poked him again. Cole made a grunting noise and cracked open an eye, looking at them both, annoyed. 

“Why..did’ya wake..me up.” He slurred slightly, looking annoyed. “I was huggin’ mah pizza roll.” He grunted, leaning forward to grab his bag. Jay was still frozen in the spot, looking petrified and confused. Cole stumbled out of the car, looking like he was in pain. He looked back at Jay, still out of it before saying, “You make a good pillow-” Before he turned around made his best attempt to get to his front door. Jay looked broken at this point before slowly getting up to sit in the front seat. While Jay looked broken, Zane watched Cole to make sure he got inside, seeing an angry looking woman at the door before it was slammed shut. He looked worried, but shifted his attention to Jay as he started sputtering words.

“I- I do not make a good pillow! I will never be a good pillow! EVER! I refuse to be a pizza roll! And when he’s in the right state of mind I will actually be killed! You need to plan my funeral, and make sure Kai doesn’t kill him after he kills me! And what about you? Your friend will be dead, and the other will be a murderer, and yet again I am not a good pillow!” Jay screeched, causing Zane to flinch at the high pitched noise, which honestly resembled a girl's voice. Zane shrugged, not really knowing what to say.

“I mean, as long as you don’t bring it up, I don’t think he will either. I also believe it is in our best interest to not let Kai know we helped him after school, it will not end well for either of us.” Zane supplied as he started driving again, turning out of their street. Jay only groaned and hit his head against the dashboard.

  
  


Cole stumbled into his house, generally ignoring his mother, which wasn’t the best course of action, but who was to blame him. He made his way over to the stairs before he heard his mother’s sharp voice stop him.

“And where were you for four hours!?” She yelled at him. Cole flinched, his headache starting to creep back. 

“I got delayed, and before you ask I did not cause damage to anyone, I did not cause any property damage either.” He grumbled, slowly making his way up the stairs. His mother was still yelling, but not necessarily at him. He managed to slip upstairs and slide into his room, quickly locking the doors.  _ Well I guess I’ll have to rush my homework tomorrow again, but for now sleep sounds nice.  _ Cole fell asleep easily after that, the pain was now a distant thing in the back of his mind. 

When Cole woke up the next morning, he only heard the constant ringing of his alarm. He rolled over and flipped off his phone, thinking that would actually do something, but spoiler; it did not. He groaned and rolled off of bed, grabbing his phone and hitting the stop button for the alarm. He looked at the time and realized multiple alarms had gone off and started cursing. He quickly threw off his clothes and threw himself into the bathroom and turned on the water. He grabbed his toothbrush, putting toothpaste on it and started to brush his teeth and he jumped into the shower. He quickly showered and finished it quickly. He wrapped a towel around his waist haphazardly and threw himself down the hallway to get back to his room. He heard a notification go off on his phone as he was putting on clothes. As he tugged down a shirt, he looked at his phone through one eye, as his shirt was covering the other.  _ This is Zane, while you slept I put my contact information in your phone, I will be coming to pick you up because I’m assuming your bike is still at school, unless you want to be late.  _ He stared at the text for a brief second before, quickly replying with a thumbs up. 

Now that the adrenaline has worn off, his body hurt, all over and when he tried to stand, he fell over onto his bed. He let out a string of curses as he pulled out Aleve and popped a few in his mouth. He assumed four wouldn’t kill him as he got up and ignored the pain as he quickly went to his kitchen to eat so his stomach lining wouldn’t die. He shoved a slice of bread into his mouth and ran outside, seeing Zane’s white car. He quickly opened the door, setting down his backpack.

“Thank you Zane.” He panted, out of breath and still in pain. Zane looked him up and down before pointing to his face.

“You look like shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Sorry it took us so long to post, we kinda died a bit, but we're back! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Chapter four is finally here! We both had a serious case of writers block, so we decided to make this chapter longer! Thanks for bearing with us! Also thank you for 300+ hits and 30 kudos! We honestly didn't expect that much with this! So thank you so much!

Cole stared at himself in the car’s mirror. He had completely forgotten to put on makeup, and his face was littered in bruises. There was one big one on his right eye, and another one on his left cheek. His forehead was also slightly discolored, but it was less noticeable. 

“Fuck.” Was all he said before sighing and hitting his head violently against the dashboard and leaving it there, Zane chuckled,

“Well, it doesn’t look too bad, if anyone asks, just say you crashed trying to do something stupid,” He supplied. He thought for a second before looking at him. “You know, Kai only hit your eye and stomach, I know he only hit your face once, because he’s smart enough to try not to give you bruises, and the others look like they’re healing, so where did they come from?” Zane questioned, giving Cole a slightly concerned look.

“I don’t see why it’s any of your business.” He snapped at him, giving him a side glare before positioning his head to look out the window, but leaving it on the dash.

“Well, it is slightly concerning, seeing how you were hiding them, I just want to make sure everything is ok with you, especially at your-” Cole cut him off abruptly, sitting up to glare at him.

“Listen  _ pal,  _ I don’t see how any of this is your problem, I had an accident with a few kids a few days back. So knock it off. I don’t need pity from you, and I especially don’t need you nosing into my life, got it?” He growled. Zane looked at him, not believing him in the slightest, but dropped it. The ride was tense until they got to the school building, and when they stopped, Cole got out of the car immediately, giving Zane a slight nod of thanks before storming into the building, not in the mood for anyone's shit today. 

He was walking briskly to his first class, which just so happened to be english. At least he can sleep, no better off skip. He made it to class for the first 15 minutes, but ditched. His body was killing him and he would rather be alone right now. On his way out he picked up his backpack and went outside to his usual comfort spot. Once he was underneath the bleachers he sat down and dug out his pack of cigarettes from his bag.  _ I’ll need to buy some more later…  _ He took out the last one from the box and held it up to his mouth. His hand reached down to get his lighter without thinking. He’s been doing this long enough that it’s ingrained into his memory. The smell of cigarette smoke fills the air underneath the bleachers. 

Cole started on his unfinished homework. Luckily, he didn’t have much. He started working on his History assignment and a math worksheet.  _ Thank God that it was just easy stuff.  _ Every once in a while he would take a long drag off of his smoke. Each time taking a small second to let the smoke settle to his lungs. The next ten-ish minutes went on like this. He was finally relaxing and getting work done. He quickly finished the last of his homework, but he didn’t want to go back inside until this hour was over.  _ God I should have just bought more than one pack the last time.  _ Cole sighed to himself and bent forward in frustration. 

He looked back up to see through the cracks of the bleachers two very well known heads of hair.  _ Why can’t I catch a break? Am I cursed? _ On the outside of the bleachers under a large tree was the person who he once loved snuggled up to a redhead. They looked so happy together; but he wanted to be the one who Nya skipped class to hang out with, the one who she talked about her problems to, the one snuggling and cuddling her under a tree. 

The pain of the break up started creeping back into his soul. That mixed with the pain in his ribs started to make him cry. Small sniffles turned into raging sobs. Cole’s hands made their way to his hair and he started scratching violently while sobbing and degrading himself. The tears just kept on coming and once he stopped attacking his scalp he looked at his hands. His nails had blood under them and his scalp was throbbing. He stopped for a moment just letting tears fall down his face while his mind went numb. Minutes later his mind went back to degrading and hating on itself.  _ Fuck, Why couldn’t I have just been better? I should have loved her more. Fuck, I just want to die. Fuck.  _

Before he knew it he started punching at his legs violently.  _ Fuck, fuck, fuckkk… Why? Why do you do this to yourself? That’s why she left. It’s your fault.  _ The punching started again and then he stopped. He started at the dirt. His mind was again blank and it stayed that way until the warning bell for his next class rang through the campus. He sniffled, but hastily packed everything up. He stood up leaving the only place he felt safe to go into living hell. 

He walked the halls with his shoulders slouched and his eyes glazed. He was numb, and it showed. He was practically a zombie slowly wandering to his history class. He made it to his seat and laid his head down on the desk. The teacher started taking attendance and then asked for homework. Cole sluggishly pulled out his history notes for the teacher. Putting them in front of him to let the teacher look through them. The class went at a snail’s pace for the rest of the hour. Cole didn’t gather any of the information that the man spoke to the class other than what homework he was supposed to do. The bell rang signalling lunch for the entire school.

Cole was considering asking Zane for a ride to go get food, but he was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. 

“Hey… I was thinking we should talk..” Nya spoke in a whisper.

“What is there to talk about?” Cole snapped defensively. Cole followed her outside that way they could have some privacy. 

“Cole I saw you earlier.. I thought you stopped doing that?” Nya looked at him with genuine concern.  _ I don’t want her pity, fuck her and her side bitch.  _

“Why does it matter to you? You didn’t seem to care about me when you were kissing  _ her _ .” The last word lingered in the air. Nya stood staring at her ex in an uncomfortable manner. 

‘Cole.. I wanted to tell you sooner, but-” 

“But what? You wanted to hurt me even more by letting me find you kissing her like I used to kiss you?” 

“Cole! I wanted to tell you sooner because I never liked you! I was using you because my family wanted me to be something I can’t. Cole I love you, but I am not interested in you or your gender. I’m sorry I should have never used you as a cover up.” Her words were choked and by the end she was sobbing openly. 

“Nya, I wish you would have told me that you liked girls from the beginning. I wouldn’t have judged you.. I would love to forgive you, but I just need time to process everything. I’m beyond upset. If anything the last few months are completely broken and so am I. I would rather not talk to you again for a while and I assume you are the same. Tell Kai that I don’t want him near me either. I doubt he’ll listen, but I don’t want to be hurt anymore than what you've done today. Goodbye Nya and have fun.” Cole managed to be completely calm through the entire thing, so calm that it shook fear into the receiver of the message. So much fear that her tears stopped and she went wide eyed. 

The broken boy turned around and headed back to the cafeteria looking for Zane. Zane was sitting down by Jay, and for some reason Kai wasn’t there. The two teens were chattering about their next class and if their homework was done. Cole walked up and tapped Zane’s shoulder. 

“Zane can you take me down to the gas station?” Cole’s voice was raspy, but still overall emotionless. 

“Yeah, Sure. Jay, do you want to come?” 

“I’ll pass.” 

“Okay, see you in a minute.” Zane winked and got up walking with Cole to the parking lot. 

“So why didn’t you just drive down? You have your keys and your bike is here.” 

“Not in the right headspace.” Cole shrugged and got into the passenger’s seat. 

Zane nodded in understatement and started walking with Cole, heading to his car. The walk there was completely quiet, Zane kept glancing at Cole, immediately noticing many things wrong with Cole. His face was wet, his eyes were red, which meant he was probably crying, he noticed blood on his head and hands, and he looked more guarded than usual. Zane was curious about what had happened but decided not to question it.

“I’ll buy you lunch today….” Zane said as he opened his door, getting into the driver's seat. Cole raised a brow, looking at Zane.

“Why? Usually I’d love free food, but I don’t need you pitying me or whatever you’re trying to do.” Cole grumbled, crossing his arms, not bothering to put on a seatbelt either.

“You should really put on a seatbelt Cole- If we get into a crash you could be seriously harmed-” Zane started before Cole cut him off.

“I wanna die anyways, I- We have a test tomorrow.” Cole said, rolling his eyes and looking out the window. Zane sighed, starting the car and reversing it out of the parking slot. The ride there was relatively quiet, with only music playing through the radio. They eventually made it the gas station. Cole sighed, opening the door, looking around the generally open area. They turned to the run down gas station, entering it. Cole went and picked up a thing of ramen, not necessarily hungry after his experience with Nya. He sighed, rubbing the back of his head,  _ am I really not good enough for her- For her to lie to me for years about our relationship…  _ Cole sighed, turning to grab water as well. He turned to see Zane at the counter with what seems to be a sandwich. He approached the counter with his items, setting them down, and reaching towards his wallet to pay when Zane stopped him.

“I told you, I am paying for both of us.” Zane explained once more, turning and giving the cashier his card. Cole sighed, not giving up a second offer for free food. Zane turned and went to the car while Cole cooked his food in the employee lounge- With no employee necessarily knowing he was there. After his ramen was done, he quickly left, receiving an annoyed look from the cashier in return as he left. He opened the car dar quickly sitting down and setting down the steaming bowl of ramen.

“Thanks Zane.” Cole sighed, letting his ramen cool. Zane nodded, deciding to try and speak to him once more.

“So Cole, I know we are not close friends, but I am curious about your attitude from earlier- Are you alright?” Cole huffed, slurping his ramen in response. Zane sighed, expecting as much. The ride was generally quiet before Cole spoke up, almost startling Zane.

“My girlfriend- Nya, you know her?” He asked, not giving time for Zane to answer, “She has the prettiest black hair and amazing eyes, great fashion sense, lovely smile, and she was just amazing.” Cole explained more to himself then Zane. Zane said nothing, listening. “And I just loved her- So much! We were together for 2 years, and I just- she apparently never felt the same.” Cole started rambling now, not processing what he was saying at this point. “I thought she loved me too- but i found her kissing some red headed whore in a fucking empty classroom like she was the love of her life-” Cole looked like he was tearing up, but more out of anger than sadness.

“And then she fucking tells me she never liked guys- she wasn’t interested in my gender at all and lied to me for years on end about it to please her family… Now don’t get me wrong- nothing wrong with loving the same sex, but to lie to me for years about it- How could she do that.” Cole rasped, sounding tired. Zane looked at him sympathetically, not really knowing what to say. Cole laughed, not necessarily having any emotions to it.

“Wow- I’m pathetic.” He sighed, returning to slurp his ramen before turning to Zane. “If you tell anyone about this little incident in the car, I will grow a garden of carrots and shove each one of them up your ass.” Cole said, sounding completely serious. Zane stared at him before nodding.

“I don’t doubt that- Nothing leaves this car then.” Zane nodded quickly as they pulled up to the school. 

“Good, now thank you again for the food- I owe you for two things now.” Cole said, going to open the door once they parked.

“Oh it’s alright, you really don’t need to.” Zane told him as he exited the vehicle as well. 

“Nah, I want to, I could buy you a carrot.” He suggested, smirking.

“I’d rather you not- Thank you though Cole.” Zane grimaced. Cole snickered as he finished up his ramen, walking to the building with Cole.

Jay saw the two approaching outside of a window as he was leaving the Cafeteria. Lunch has gone interesting to say the least- he definitely had a talk with Kai about what he did to Cole, which didn’t go as well as he planned. He thought back to it as he walked, grimacing.

_ Jay watched the two leave, still flustered from what happened yesterday in the car, or else he would have gone with them. He shook his head, returning to his food, but pausing when he heard Kai’s voice echo through the cafeteria. _

_ “Hey Jay! Buddy!” He yelled across the cafeteria, grinning as he jogged over. Jay looked annoyed at him, and turned around as he approached. _

_ “Hey Kai… What’s up?” He asked, raising a brow at his “buddy.”  _

_ “Oh nothing much!” Kai chirped, Lloyd was following behind him like usual. _

_ “Why are you acting so weird?” Jay asked, almost looking annoyed. _

_ “Me? Weird? I’m just talking to my friends! And that includes you!” Kai said, grinning. Jay rolled his eyes, going back to his food before pausing.  _

_ “Actually Kai- speaking of talking, we need to talk, alone.” Jay told him, while Kai looked confused. _

_ “Alright- everything ok?” He asked.  _

_ “I’ll tell you, come on.” Jay said, abandoning his food at the table and leaving the cafeteria, leaving Kai to follow him. Once they were out of the crowded room and in a smaller hallway, Kai laughed, _

_ “So, what’s up?” He asked. _

_ “It’s about Cole, Kai.” Jay said, sounding annoyed. Kai’s face dropped, replacing it with an annoyed look. _

_ “I don’t see why we have to talk about that dumbass.” He murmured defensively.  _

_ “Kai you beat him up so bad he was coughing up blood!” Jay practically shouted. _

_ “That dumbass was asking for it! He doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut, and he definitely doesn’t fight back either.”Kai explained, sounding more annoyed by the second. _

_ “Just because he’s rude doesn’t mean you should beat him up! He had so many bruises on his face this morning!” Jay exclaimed, not really believing his friend right now. _

_ “Alright, I only hit his face once! I don’t know where the other ones came from! He probably pissed off some other people!” Kai sighed, glaring at Jay. “Why do you care so much anyways!? He’s an asshole to all of us, including you, and I’ve never seen you two speak before that science project!” Kai said, giving Jay a pointed look, “Do you like him or something?” Jay sputtered, _

_ “I definitely do not like him, or guys for that matter! It’s just- weird?” He said, not really sounding sure but didn’t say anything else. Kai huffed, rolling his eyes, _

_ “You better not! Now stop blaming me for all of his fucking bruises! And if you want me to stop messing with him, tell him to be much less of an ass and we’ll be good!” He practically shouted, shoving past Jay. Jay rolled his eyes, returning to the cafeteria and walking through the thick crowd of students to make it to the other end, turning to see Zane and Cole approaching the building. He only sighed, walking faster to his locker. _

The end of the day finally came around and Cole was thankful, to say the least. The constant ache that has been following him all day still lingered through his body. Everystep rekindled the sharp pains that would hide until he moved. Walking as steadily as he could; he slowly arrived to his locker. He looked around seeing two now familiar faces walking towards him. 

“Hey Zane, Can I get another ride? My body hurts and I don’t want to risk crashing the bike..” Cole sheepishly asked. 

“Of course Cole! I have to give Jay a ride too so I hope that’s fine.” Zane smiled finishing off the sentence. 

They all walked to Zane’s car and Cole got in the car claiming shotgun, much to Jay’s discontempt. Zane paused before opening his door seeing a familiar hothead strutting towards him. His steps were full of confidence and swagger, which isn’t unusual for him. He was wearing a signature pair of sunglasses to really pull together the entire douchebag look. 

“Hey Zane, Jay,” A smirk paired with a wink appeared on Kai’s face. 

“I’m having a party this weekend at my house and I was wondering if my two favorite friends would show up. So what do you say?” Kai inquired with a smirk on his face. 

“I’m no-” Jay was cut off by Zane’s calm voice. 

“Text us the time Kai and we’ll be there.” A gentle smile warmed the face of the usually cool natured teen. 

“Alrighty guys see you then, but for now I have to go. Adios.” He jogged away. Zane and Jay looked at each other and then got into the car. 

“So what are you guys doing? Planning to kill me or something?” Cole said, looking annoyed. 

“Cole, We wouldn’t kill you and even if we were the possibility of getting away with it is too much of a risk.” Zane shrugged and started the car. 

“Comforting.” Cole deadpanned. 

“Zane, why the hell are we going to Mr.Anger-Managment-Dropout’s party?” Jay said with a pitchy annoyed voice. 

“I personally think it’s better if we don’t get on his nerves.” 

The group pulled out of the school parking lot. Cole’s body started hurting again. That dull lingering pain escalated into loud shouts of pain in his head and stomach. A small pathetic whimper was released from the last of his worn vocal chords. His hands started to ache along with his legs. The pain was starting to build into something unbearable, but Cole tried to hold in the last of his tears. He unconsciously started curling up and gripping onto his jeans to try to ease the tension. A small sniffle made its way from the little blob that was forming in the passenger’s seat. Small sniffles turned to sobs and his entire body was shaking. His mind was blank and numb from the pain that was coursing through his body.  _ Make it stop. Make it stop. Please. Please. Stop. Sto- _

“Uh, Cole, Hey buddy it’s okay. What’s wrong?” Jay worriedly asked. 

“Everything hurts- I just- want it to -stop.” Cole said sniffling and pausing through his words. 

“Zane, we should go get him something… Kai really made you hurt this bad buddy?” Jay didn’t take his eyes off of the crumpled up human in front of him. 

A small hum indicating yes came from Cole.

“Not all of it is from him though… I’m kind of dumb…” Cole said, still crying.

“What do you mean Geode?” The nickname now was becoming less of an annoyance and more of a comfort for Cole. 

“I’ll tell you later. I don’t want to talk about it right now…” Cole’s tone got impossibly more pained. 

“Jay I’m having Cole sit back there when we get to the store. You can come up in the front if you want.” 

“Okay, Zane.”

They continued to drive, trying to get to the store. As they drove, Cole was still crying, trying to keep quiet, but failing. He ended up dry heaving, due to how much he had already cried today. Zane glanced at Jay in the rearview mirror, Jay noticed and gave him a concerned look before turning back to Cole, who was still dry heaving. Zane stepped on the gas pedal again, slightly speeding up as they got closer to the store. Every now and then when Cole shook violently, Jay reached out, awkwardly patting his shoulder, not knowing what else to do. 

This continued to go on for about five minutes, which had felt like an eternity to them, but finally, Zane quickly, but safely pulled into the parking lot, and parked in the first spot he had found.

“Jay, I’ll need you to assist me with moving him to the back so he is more comfortable.” Zane explained, already getting out of the car. Jay nodded quickly, haphazardly throwing off his seatbelt and stumbling out of the car gracelessly. He rushed over to Cole’s side and opened the door, seeing Cole still curled up, tears streaming down his face as he stared into nothing. 

“Uhh Geode- buddy, can you stand?” Jay asked, not knowing what else to say. Cole turned his head slightly, “Do you really think I can stand.” His voice shook as he spoke, sounding hoarse and rough, and completely broken. He turned his head again, shutting his eyes as he continued to cry. Jay looked over to Zane helplessly. Zane nodded and walked up, he bent down and started to pick Cole up. The second Cole felt someone touched him, he flinched violently away, which concerned both Jay and Zane even more so.

“Cole, I am going to pick you up and put you in the back seat..” Zane explained slowly, taking another step forward. “Is that alright?” Zane questioned, watching Cole closely for any sign of affirmation. He saw Cole hesitate before giving a slightly nod. Zane bent down carefully, picking him up again, Cole flinching once more, but only slightly. “Jay, open the backdoor please.” Zane told him, carrying Cole overand setting him down carefully in the backseat. Zane closed the door, leaving Cole in the car.

“Jay, I am asking you to stay here while I go inside and find necessary items for him, I do not want him alone while in this mindset, it could lead to harmful things to his body..” Zane explained to Jay.

“Yeah, I’ll stay.. Will he be ok?” Jay asked, obviously scared for his friend. Zane nodded,

“He should be fine, I will get medicine and food for him, just please watch over him.” Zane told Jay, trying to assure him as he gave Jay a weak smile. Jay nodded, moving to go sit in the front. He waved to Zane, as Zane waved back before turning and jogging to the store. Jay hopped up front, glancing back at Cole every now and then, worry evident on his face. For about five minutes, the car was completely quiet until Jay heard whimpering from the back. He turned around and saw Cole curl into himself.

“Uh Cole, are you alright?” Jay asked, not really sure what to do. Cole didn’t seem to hear him as he continued to curl on himself, sobbing. Jay, not knowing what to do, got out of the car and ran towards Cole, he opened the door, climbing into the back. “Cole! Please be ok!” Jay said, worried. 

“Please make it stop..” Cole whimpered, somehow curling further into himself. Jay, not knowing what else to do went closer and slowly put his arms down. He set his hand onto Cole’s back, causing him to flinch, starting to move. Jay moved his hand in small circles, trying to comfort him. To his surprise, Cole slowly stops shaking.

Jay looked around the car nervously still rubbing soothing circles into his friend’s back. His eyes landed upon the object he was looking for, his phone. He gently slithered his arm to the center console where his phone was resting. He picked it up and noticed no new notifications as he quickly slid it open. He made his way to Zane’s contact and texted him _._ _Hurry the fuck up. I think he’s dying!!!!_

Jay puts the phone back in it’s original resting place and looks at his friend. He hadn’t noticed this before but Cole’s entire being was littered with dark plum marks that were almost black in some areas. His buried anger from earlier started to dig it’s way back up into his heart.  _ What the hell is wrong with Kai?  _

“Hey, Cole, did Kai give you all of those bruises? I’m sorry to ask right now, but it’s been on my mind.” Jay said with an edge to his tone. 

“Mm-no, not all of them..” Cole murmured with hesitance. 

“What do you mean? He’s the only one who’s done shit to you. The only other place you could have got those from was your house.. But your parents wouldn’t do that.” Jay paused after noticing Cole tense up after saying that. 

“Right, Cole? They wouldn’t hurt you would they? Right?” Jay hurriedly spoke with worry in his voice. The sobbing that took it’s break came back at that point. Jay’s eyes widened with new knowledge about the broken boy in front of him. The comforting swirl that Jay was doing stopped suddenly. 

“Cole.. no.. They couldn’t be..” 

Jay looked completely lost, not knowing what to do. Cole seemed to start shaking again, not knowing what to say either.

“I- Cole..” Jay looked helpless, feeling lost. Cole at this point was silently crying, instead of the heaving sobs he had done earlier. Jay started to move his hand back onto Cole’s back, but Cole moved away slightly. Jay was about to speak, but heard the car door opening.

“I have found medicine, food, and water.” Zane said, his hair and clothes a little disheveled after seeing Jay’s text and going faster throughout the store to find the items they needed. He noticed Jay’s distressed face and raised a brow, worry evident in his eyes. Jay mouthed,  _ I’ll tell you later.  _ Zane nodded, sitting in the front seat and handing Jay the items. Jay took them and gave them to Cole, who nodded slightly.

“Thanks..” He whispered hoarsely before opening the water and drinking it. Jay still looked lost but slowly started to move away, completely shocked by what he had learned. He sat back down at shotgun, every now and then shooting Cole glances through the side mirrors.

“Well, Cole, do you want to return home or come back with us to my house for a while?” Zane asked, glancing back at Cole before returning his attention to the road. 

“Can I come with you guys..” Cole asked, his voice hoarse and dry from him crying. Jay didn’t even try and hide the relief on his face from that, which earned him a skeptical look from Zane before he replied to Cole,

“Of course, stay as long as you need, we can always head to the school if you need your bike as well.” Zane supplied, Cole only made a grunt of acknowledgement before returning to silence.

The rest of the car ride was absolutely brutal, Zane, being the observer he is, noticed Jay sending Cole looks from the side view mirrors, and these were obviously new concerns from how his texting was phrased earlier, he hardly ever swore, so he knew it must have been urgent. Now Cole is just remaining quiet, something happened between the two, and he intended to find out later. He noticed Jay glancing at Cole yet again and sighed, raising a brow, which caused Jay to give him the same response,  _ later.  _ Zane didn’t have much time to think about it, as he was just pulling into his neighborhood. 

They eventually made it to Zane’s house, which was a cute small white house with a grey roof and a few trees spread about. All in all it was a cute set up and seemed very peaceful. Zane pulled into the driveway and turned off the car, both him and Jay hopped out of the car, turning to Cole and opening the door.

“My parents will not return until around six o'clock tonight, so you will have time to collect yourself before they get home, and if you do not, they will not judge you, so no need to fret, but hopefully by then you will be feeling more like yourself.” Zane explained, smiling at Cole slightly to reassure him. Cole nodded, pulling himself up. He stumbled slightly, which caused both Jay and Zane to lurch forward, but he caught himself.

“‘M fine..” He grumbled before limping towards the house. Jay and Zane shared worried looks before following him. They all walked through the tidy, spotless house and towards Zane’s room, which was no surprise to them, spotless. 

“The bathroom is just down the hall Cole, you should go clean yourself off if you want, Jay and I will stay here.” Zane said, gesturing to a door down the hallway. Cole nodded, limping off to the bathroom, weakly holding all the items Zane had bought. After the door was shut and the two were sure he had made it to the bathroom safely, Zane turned to Jay.

“What happened with Cole in the car? Something was very different when I came back, you two were acting very differently.” Zane explained, looking at Jay intently. Jay shuffled nervously, not really knowing what to say as he felt Zane’s eyes dig into the side of his head. 

“Well, when I was trying to comfort him..” Jay started, thinking of how exactly to phrase the situation. Zane gestured for him to continue. “I noticed a lot of bruises on him, which didn’t seem to come from Kai, because he definitely didn’t hit him that hard, so I started thinking of how he could have gotten bruises so quickly… My only thoughts were either him getting in fights or…. Or his parents.” Jay whispered, looking like he was about to cry as he spoke, “A-and, I said it right? Hoping it wasn’t true Zane, I hoped so much it wasn’t true, but he stilled, he actually stopped crying and he tensed so much when I suggested it!” Jay gasped, crying more. “W-why would a-anyone do that to their own child!” Jay gasped, crying more as Zane tried to calm him down.

“Jay you need to calm down, we don’t know if that’s the case.” Zane said, sounding unsure of himself and continued, “He could have had a previous verbal fight with his parents and maybe that is why he reacted that way.” Zane supplied, trying to calm the crying teenager down, only slightly succeeding.

“Y-you weren’t there!” Jay said rather loudly, “He froze and tensed so much! H-he started moving away from me as if he were ashamed of himself and didn’t d-deserve help!” Jay cried, his voice becoming more confused as he spoke. “H-how could anyone do that to their own k-kid! C-cole looked so s-scared and alone! I didn’t k-know what to do!” Jay babbled on as Zane hugged him, rubbing circles on his back, comforting him. Zane was used to doing this, seeing as Jay was a very emotional person and over the years he had learned how to comfort him as their friendship grew.

“He will be alright, if this continues, we will ask him about it and report it to people who can help him alright? You need to calm down though so you will not make him uncomfortable, especially right now after what happened in the car, alright?” Zane asked as Jay pulled away. 

“Y-yeah, I can do that..” Jay said as he calmed himself down, breathing slowly. When Jay was completely calmed down the two started on homework, waiting for Cole to be done. After a small period of time they heard a door open and footsteps coming from down the hall, they glanced at each other before returning to their books, waiting for Cole to enter the room.

The door handle turned and Cole walked in, looking better, not by much but still better.

“Hey Geode!” Jay said, smiling brightly at him.

“Hello Cole, I hope you are feeling better?” Zane asked, smiling. Cole looked at them both and nodded, his gaze lingering on Jay for a split second longer before turning his gaze to look around the room. The first thing he noticed was how incredibly clean everything was, from the tidy desk, clean futon, and perfectly made bed. 

“I am feeling better… And your room is really… Clean.” Cole commented, looking around again. Zane chuckled before gesturing to the futon.

“You can sit over there, or Jay and I can sit over there and you can take the bed, your choice.” Zane explained. Cole looked between the two before walking over to the futon and laying down, sighing as he fell. Jay kept looking at Cole nervously, Cole obviously didn’t notice but Zane did. Zane poked Jay, gesturing for him to stop. Jay sighed and nodded, Cole being completely oblivious to the two as he scrolled through his phone. 

No one decided to speak for the time being, it was a comfortable silence as Cole scrolled through social media, Zane working on homework, and Jay scribbling something down in a notepad of his. This stayed like that for a few hours, the three content with life for the time being, and Cole being more content then he had in awhile. Zane noticed he seemed to be happier as he hid in a blanket and pillow fort he had somehow silently constructed in the few minutes Zane wasn’t paying attention. It was rather impressive to say the least. 

The three then heard a door open and a pair of footsteps were heard through the house. Zane stood up, heading towards the door.

“I will be right back, I need to go so hello to my parents and explain that you two are staying for a while, Jay I know you are spending the night, Cole are you as well?” Zane asked. Cole looked unsure,

“I don’t want to intrude…” He started before Zane cut him off.

“Nonsense, you can stay, I will go inform them that I have friends here. Zane said before leaving the room. If things weren’t awkward before, they definitely are now. Jay turned to Cole and started to speak,

“I don’t want to hear it, you heard me say nothing, you don’t know anything about my life, don’t start to pity me about stuff you don’t even know about.” Cole snapped before turning his attention back to his phone, completely ignoring Jay. Jay looked speechless as he stared at Cole, before slowly returning to his notepad, which had very detailed instructions on a gadget he had wanted to make. The two sat in awkward silence, with Cole refusing to look at Jay, and Jay staring at his notepad, completely lost in thought. Eventually, their lord and saviour Zane entered the room, saving both of them from any lasting awkwardness. 

“My parents are ordering food, we just got a whole bunch of things so you can pick and choose when it arrives.” Zane explained, noticing the awkward tension. He was about to ask about it when his phone buzzed. He looked curious and grabbed his phone, scanning over the new text. Jay had seemed to get one too, both of them read it and raised their eyebrows, glancing at each other. 

“Who’d you guys get a text from?” Cole’s voice broke the silence as he raised a brow, giving them both a curious look. 

“Ah, no one-” Jay started before Zane cut him off, speaking at the same time,

“Kai, he was asking us if we would like to attend a party of his at his hou-” Zane was cut off by Jay jabbing him in the stomach with his elbow, which caused Cole to give Jay an unimpressed look.

“Smooth Sparky, and are you guys actually planning on going to that?” Cole asked.

“Well, it would be rude of us not to..” Zane said as he thought about it. Jay huffed and rolled his eyes.

“Well he’s not the nicest person, we don’t have to go.” Jay supplied.

“It might be fun, it could give us a break from any stress, I do not wish to be rude to him either.

“Or it could be a waste of time, and what about Cole?”

The two went back and forth, until Cole finally spoke through them both.

“You two can go and drop me off at my house.” He said, looking between the two to see if that was a good enough answer. Zane and Jay looked at each other before Zane turned to Cole, 

“Why don’t you come with us Cole?” Zane asked, giving him a hopeful look. Cole started to say no before Jay cut him off with a rather annoying squeal,

“Yeah! You should totally come with us!” He exclaimed.

“Oh fuck no.” Cole deadpanned.

Jay grinned, despite what happened earlier, “You’re coming with us Geode! Whether you like it or not!”

Cole gave the two an annoyed looked.

“You two make me want to plant that fucking carrot farm more and more.” He said, annoyed, as both Jay and Zane chuckled nervously, deciding not to take that seriously. 


	5. Update!

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of updates in this! My partner and I have been very busy lately with school and personal issues. We've also haven't had much motivation lately, which sucks, we are planning on taking up a second story but with the Dream team! I'm hoping to get a start on this again next week, and by then I'll make a posting schedule! If you like this story, tell me in the comments when you'd like us to update and we'll make a scedule for it! See you guys in a few weeks and thank you so much for the hits and kudos! Stay healthy!! :D

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading lol. Check tumblr for updates.  
> Sarba's Tumblr: https://sarbaowonfic.tumblr.com/post/621756291193372673/when-lightning-strikes-sand-chapter-1


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